Four Key Tips to Remember When Dealing with Building Supplies

It can be tough to manage a building construction project, especially one that has a considerable scale. It's possible that the project timeline will extend into months and even years, but there are numerous milestones to be hit and budget guidelines to be met. One of the biggest challenges for a manager in this situation is control of building supplies—making sure that they are always available in the correct quantities and delivered on time. If you are finding this an onerous task, what are some areas you can look at to try and put your mind at ease?

Supplier Vetting

You may trust all the members of your team on-site to keep everything moving productively, but you will often have to rely on the capability of a third-party supplier or two to keep feeding your project. It's critical to make sure that you are dealing with an organisation that has experience. They need to have a reputation for doing what they say and being a great partner, to avoid continuity issues. You will need to provide them with information and accurate orders, of course, but it is their job to deliver on time and to give you plenty of advance notice if any issues are likely to materialise.

Stocktaking

How reliable is your inventory process? You cannot expect to keep the machine running if you're not sure what stock you have on hand at any given time. If you are relying on the independent efforts of certain key people, consider introducing an enterprise software product that can give you results and data at any given moment. At the least, this should augment the work of your stock managers.

Time Sensitive

As you know, a major project like this is driven by time—and specifically its management. You need to be able to forecast material needs well in advance and draw up schedules that accurately reflect where the project is, especially if it has fallen behind at all. You need to place everyone involved under a certain amount of time pressure too, so that they manage it appropriately and never fall off track. 

Just Enough

Every project today is budget sensitive and yours is no different. Materials can make up a sizeable line-item on the budget and you don't need to pay any more for their acquisition than is necessary. Consequently, you need to ensure that you have "just-in-time" stock replenishment systems in place so that you are not stockpiling and paying more for the privilege.


Share